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Thursday, October 29, 2015

Corinthian College was ordered to pay out 530 million dollars to former students this week for scamming them, but the students probably won't see a dime since the fraudsters declared bankruptcy earlier this year.

The Corinthian lawsuit was filed and won by The Consumer Protection Board was that the school engaged in deceptive practices to lure students in and then methods that would make a loan shark blush to pay up.

So how do others benefit? This case might make it easier to try and get federal loans discharged. Among other things, the judgment found that Corinthian violated the law by using inflated job prospects to lure in students. What graduate school hasn't done that?

So fret not, indebted students, someday and I don't know when it will be, but soon and in our lifetime, we may finally be able to live in a country where scamming schools are punished instead of the students.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

The good news is intelligent people stopped going to law school several years ago. Bad news? The law schools didn't want to give up the gravy train, so they lowered their standards and let students who simply aren't bright enough for law in.

I have zero sympathy for the law graduates who just flunked the bar and are now starting to realize a J.D. isn't a winning lottery ticket. The scam was exposed back in 2009, so they could have easily spared themselves the debt and disappointment.

I do however, feel sorry for all the folks who will need a good lawyer, because if this continues, that's not going to be easy to find. The law schools will continue admitting subpar students until they are shut down. So do yourself a favor if you need a lawyer; get one who graduated before 2000, that's about the time the diploma mills really got going.

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Nando of Third Tier Reality http://thirdtierreality.blogspot.com/ has done an AMAZING job for the past 6 years alerting potential law students to the scam and dangers of spending over $100,000 on an education that will most likely not lead to employment.

The New York Times chimed in today with the same information Nando has been telling everyone for the past six years. They point out that the law school scam has gotten worse, and debt has gotten higher since 2006, when Fed Plus loans became available.

Nothing here that Nando hasn't already noted, but worth a look if you have a minute.

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Everyone who has a student loan knows how unfair it is, and that the loans will follow you and any cosigners to their graves. Student loan debt is almost impossible to get discharged in bankruptcy, defaulted federal loans result in harsh penalties including garnished wages, tax refunds and even garnished social security payments.

Earlier this week, I noted that some small progress has been made in discharging loans in bankruptcy. There is finally talk about reducing the amount of money that can be reduced from social security. Small steps in the right direction, but it's not enough.

Here is a question everyone who can vote should be asking themselves. Why does my country use taxpayer money to bail out banksters who got into trouble speculating on crap investments, and refuses to help the students who took out loans to get ahead and get a good job?

Here's another troubling issue - many of the students who took out loans were deceived by fraudulent statistics to lure them in, and then screwed over by loan sharks like Sallie Mae. Why is Congress sitting on its fat ass and not helping?

In a nutshell here's why: The banks own Congress, and Congress wants to make them happy. Students don't do anything for Congress. So maybe this next election, we only vote for someone who has a bailout plan in mind for Americans that deserve it, not a bunch of rich bankers who, despite inside information and lots of cash, still managed to not only lose money, but almost brought down the country.

Friday, October 23, 2015

Russell Simmons is head of RushCard, a debit card for poor struggling people who can't get traditional bank accounts. You can make direct deposits, even put your tax refund on it. The fees are about the same as banks; $9.95 per month, an activation fee of $3.95 to $14.95 (depending on which card you choose), and $2.50 every time you hit the ATM.The difference is, for the past 11 days, the cards haven't been working due to a "glitch." RushCard customers who had their paychecks put on the card can't get their money. So they have been going without food, not paying their bills (which will cost them additional late fees from whoever they owe money to). The company claims it is having technical problems. I could believe that excuse for 1 day, but 11? Something is off, smells like fraud brewing to me.Why do the rich exploit the poor so much? Because they can. Because they only know how good it feels to see their bank accounts grow and not the pain of the people they stepped on to make it grow. Russell, go to Twitter and read what your customers, the folks who paid for your lifestyle, are going through because your company is not letting them access their money. Read about the sleepless nights, the lack of food, the lights getting turned off. Do you care? Or just worried about how much you are going to get sued for? Lawyers are already trying to put together a class action. Unfortunately, only the lawyers will win. Simmons will pay an expensive lawyer to get him out of trouble, the class action lawyers will make money, and each of the people screwed will probably end up with an extra $4.23 from the class action. Russell Simmons, fool turned fraudster, will only lose his reputation for a short while due to this mess. He will find someone new to exploit, the poor will stay poor, and the lawyers will be the only winners of this mess. I need to go puke now, the world is making me sick again.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

It's no secret that I hate banks and bankers, as well as fraud and fraudsters, which I guess is redundant. Today's fraud is brought to you by RushCard, the Russell Simmons prepaid debit card. What a hip- hop "impresario" is doing running a debit card business is a mystery I hope never to solve.

The card hasn't been working for a week. Which means that folks that have their direct deposits sent to the card can't access their money. So they've been forced to borrow from friends to get by. Most of the customers are low income and don't have traditional bank accounts.

I'm curious what the company is going to do to help their customers and what they are going to do to make it up to them. I hope the customers will just tell Mr. Simmons to go back to whatever it is a hip- hop impresario pretending to be a banker does. Because right now, he's neither a banker or an impresario, he's a straight up fraudster.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

If you are one of the thousands who got scammed by one of the fraud schools who inflated job prospects to lure you in to thousands of dollars of debt and no job to show for it, this is for you.

As everyone with a degree knows, student loans are the only loans that are difficult to discharge in bankruptcy. Progress is being made. Michael Hedlund went to law school and flunked the bar three times and then spent the next ten years trying to get $85,000 in student loans discharged in bankruptcy. Finally in 2013, he won a partial discharge, which could make it easier for those who were unable to get work in law.

Of course there are unemployment deferments, financial hardship deferments, and IBR. I have a friend who graduated law school six years ago and hasn't paid a dime just using deferments.

If you're not poverty stricken, think about getting another worthless degree in the evening. Even if in school only part time, you don't have to pay your loans. Obviously, this only works if the courses you are taking are cheaper than your loan payments. Finally, if you are willing to teach in a dangerous neighborhood for a few years, you can get your loan discharged.

On November 2 SCOTUS will hear arguments against Spokeo, the people search company that puts information on the internet about everyone whether or not it's correct, and violates consumer data and privacy laws.

The case is seeking class action status. I will be on board if they win. For information on how to clean up your online information, see my post Privacy Thieves below. In the meantime, Spokeo, please take your nose out of our butts.

Saturday, October 17, 2015

What a fool! Ted Richard's had his ears cut off so that he could look like his pet parrot. The fraudster in this is the surgeon for performing the operation. Shouldn't doctors have to say no to ridiculous requests like this? Clearly this doctor was only thinking about his bank account.

Friday, October 16, 2015

This Fraudster isn't a felon (yet), but he should be in prison. Meet Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase, the man who borrowed 25 billion from the taxpayers in 2008, and made over 20 million dollars last year. His net worth is estimated to just over one billion dollars.

Just four years after Mr. Dimon received billions of dollars from the taxpayers to bail out JP Morgan Chase, his firm bet and lost over 6 billion dollars on speculative derivatives in London. That's a lot of risk for anyone, but for a firm taking handouts from the taxpayers, that's criminal. But no jail for Jamie. I'm wondering what would happen if I took government aid and used it to speculate on stock options or go to the racetrack.

One only has to look at his close government ties, and his past "service" as a director on the board of The Federal Reserve Bank of New York to understand Jamie's freedom and net worth. What I find most interesting is that even with all the inside information his firm is privy to, they still lost all that money on derivatives. That's like knowing what horse will win and still losing. Good job, Jamie!

He commits crimes that harm working Americans, and he gets away with it by paying large fines. Those fines are already included in his business model. Who cares if they have to pay a 100 million fine when the illegal activity is bringing in a billion or more?

In a nutshell the Jamie Dimon business model is:
1)Gains need to be greater than fines paid
2) Government contacts
3) Take handouts from taxpayers
4) No conscience
5) Good lawyers

Thursday, October 15, 2015

My first scam is one that most see as a mild annoyance of the internet age, but is in fact a serious threat to your privacy. Companies like Radaris, Spokeo, MyLife, and Intelius, to name but a few, are in the business of giving away your information.

Removing your info from these sites which tell the world your age, where you live and have lived for the past decade, is not easy but it can be done. Start by looking on their page for the opt out option, most are difficult to find, by design.

If there isn't an opt out option on the page, you'll need to send an email. I have found that it takes several emails and threats to sue before they will remove your information. After it has been removed, keep googling your name and checking the various sites. Many of them will simply put your information up again, this time adding a middle initial or some variation of your name so you have to go through the process all over again.

Because of my frustration with my information being used without my permission, I've decided to return the favor. Here's the email of one of the workers who will refuse to remove your info. Here's the deal: I'll remove yours when you remove mine. daniel@radaris.com

Monday, October 5, 2015

Welcome to my blog, Fraudsters, Felons and Fools! The
purpose of this blog is to expose scams and the fraudsters, felons and fools
who commit them.

This blog was inspired by the
bloggers who blew the whistle on law school scam and helped save many potential students from wasting money on a
worthless degree.

Our main ambition is to bring down those who profit illegally
and get the word out on the fraudsters, felons and fools who prey on others, and also to help to find
solutions for those who have been a victim of a scammer.

Been a victim of a scam? I would love to hear from you! Send
your emails to: fraudstersfelonsandfools@gmail.com.